


Important Business

by ee3



Series: Business Partners [2]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:27:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26815831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ee3/pseuds/ee3
Summary: Kira and Odo are together, but they both have a secret of their own. Kira is in love with Dax, and Odo is having relations with Quark.Can be read on its own.
Relationships: Jadzia Dax/Kira Nerys, Odo/Quark (Star Trek)
Series: Business Partners [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958356
Comments: 13
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

"Now, just because I admittedly enjoy your presence, doesn't merit you hovering over me while I'm trying to work." 

Quark looked over the constable's shoulder at the padd he was observing, lines of criminal logs that no doubt meant nothing to him, as he probably already knew more about every misdemeanor committed in the entire sector than any computer ever would.  
"Come on, Odo, not a day has gone by in the past ten years that you haven't come down to my bar just to check in on me." 

He made a grunt in amusement, a half laugh, half feigned annoyance. "Because you've always been directly responsible for harboring over eighty percent of unsavory activities on the station." 

Odo felt two smaller hands than his own grab his shoulders, and could see Quark lean down into his peripheral vision despite his best efforts to focus on anything other than him. 

"Then you should be thanking me." Quark leered as suspiciously as always, a glint of light catching his eyes and his uneven rows of sharp teeth. Odo found himself struggling to glare at him then, so he settled on a look of contempt. 

"Why would I thank you, Quark?" 

"Because," he slid his hands down Odo's shoulders, his arms gliding down the front of his uniform, and the awful little fink practically draped himself around him from behind. "I make your duties easier? All the criminals are in one place, as you said." 

"It would be easier if there weren't any criminals at all," he deliberately drew out his words in such a way that insinuated he meant one criminal in particular. 

Quark snarled the corners of his mouth to show off his fangs, in what Odo deduced to be a subconscious ferengi gesture that implied if he didn't get what he wanted he could just bite him.  
"What's that supposed to mean, Odo?" 

Why did Quark say his name so much, he wondered. He always had, which at the beginning he thought to be because he loathed him, and quietly, without either of them noticing, turned into something almost endearing, maybe even affectionate. The most troubling part was that he wasn't sure when it happened, or if it ever happened at all, and they were always companions in some way. Reminiscing made the featureless line of his mouth twitch into an unavoidable smile.  
"Nothing," he sighed, leaning his head back against Quark's chest.

"You don't want me to leave." 

"Not really, no." 

"But I have to, or you'll never finish your..." 

"My reports,"

"Yeah, those. I knew that."

"Then perhaps I'll have no choice but to finish them tomorrow." 

Quark blinked a few times, and Odo noticed the way the deep red pigment he applied every day must have been just to accentuate his eyes, because from this close they nearly made him melt out of his solid form. 

"You'd neglect your duties? For me?" Quark still sounded painfully facetious, but it wasn't hard to tell he was touched. 

"Just this once," Odo insisted, his hollow eyes helplessly fixated on him. 

Quark didn't seem to believe that. "Of course."

Odo stared at him for what felt like a milennia.

It had been over a month since their incident in the infirmary, as Odo would call it in his mind. He linked with a solid, and Quark, at that. They connected deeply in a way he'd never thought possible with anyone, and in a way, it made him uncomfortable. And yet far more comfortable than he ever felt in his existence up to this point. That was what it took for him to realize Quark loathed him back, and despite their now constant distateful flirting to the point that Quark currently clung to him like some kind of writhing, adorable parasite, neither of them would verbally acknowledge what it meant. Maybe they didn't have to; the link said it for them. But they haven't managed to reenter that state since, and while Odo could manage to touch him, or stare at him, or hold him close in a protective embrace, he didn't speak directly, or do what he really wanted most. He absolutely wouldn't grab him by his face to pull him in and kiss him senseless... No, go back. He wouldn't grab him by his lobes when he brought him closer, because then he would have to hear the ferengi's voice go high and whine "Odo" in that unbearable way he's heard before under the wrong circumstances. Stop. What if there was a telepath near the security office. These are exactly the kind of embarrassing thoughts that no one needs to hear, ever. "Odo." 

Especially not Quark.

"Odo. Are you listening to me?" 

"Hrmm?" 

Quark was still there, still leaning onto him from behind his chair, still dangerous centimeters away from his face. As unspoken as it was, they didn't have to say it was okay to be close, because one of Odo's hard barriers had been crumbled to pieces, and a layer of Quark's self doubt along with it. 

"I said, why are you staring at me?" 

"Oh." He cleared his throat. 

A nervous chuckle. 

"In case you haven't noticed, Odo, I'm all ears." 

Odo wanted to ask him to link with him again, so that he didn't have to explain himself. Then he remembered that he had previously referred to the act of linking between changelings as sexual, an irreversible mistake, because Quark would definitely never shut up about that. And then he realized Quark must have came to that conclusion much sooner than he did himself, because that's the only reason he would be pestering him, while he was at work, to cuddle him. Somehow Odo forgot how obscene Quark liked to be, because he was the one getting the attention this time. 

"I was staring because you're holding me hostage, Quark." That was the truth, at least.

Quark's released his embrace as he stood up again, stretching his back due to slouching over for too long, and the newest thing Odo noticed was how badly he wanted to feel his arms around him again. 

"I must've forgotten you hate fun for a second there. If someone kissed you would you accuse them of trying to choke you to death?" 

Odo melts, physically, small drips of his flesh losing their solidity as if he were made of ice and Quark was a burning star. This feeling was all too familiar. He'd been described as cold too many times to count. He spun his chair around to face Quark - looking up at him, for once - with uncanny, pleading eyes. 

"No, I wouldn't have." 

The security officer tried so hard to keep up the game they played, the pointless bickering. But everything which he wanted to say the most, he couldn't figure out how to twist into a snide remark. 

Quark was unreadably smug now. He seemed to be holding back a grin, so he closed his lips tightly, the only way he could cover his little fangs. "You know I hate being the one to initiate things, Odo." He glanced over his shoulder at the door, plotting his escape route should this get too tense to handle. 

"What?" 

"If say... Someone had a proposition for me, I'd generally let them take the lead-" 

If Quark knew enough about human desserts, he'd definitely compare Odo's current state to "a half-melted ice cream cone". 

"...Proposition?" 

"For business! Not everything has a double meaning." He coughed, his cheeks and ears slowly becoming a darker shade of burnt orange.

"And you're propositioning... Me?" Odo's blue eyes only showed an otherworldly curiosity, the look he got when he discovered something new about the humanoids, or the universe, which over the years became a much rarer sight. 

Quark must have been bolder than Odo gave him credit for, because he was the one with the "lobes" enough to take Odo's molten face into his hands and kiss his shapeless lips. Odo scoffed into his mouth, which only made things worse, because Quark had no intention of letting him go. 

Surely, he'd be absolutely repulsed to get a mouthful of living ooze, but apparently, that couldn't be any farther than the truth. Of course Quark would like that. He's disgusting, so he liked the idea of an alien life form that turned himself into putty when he deepened their kiss with his sharpened little teeth. And Odo must not be that withdrawn after all, or he wouldn't be contributing to their predicament. By the time he pulled away, Odo was a mess. A mess that managed to regain a form much closer to humanoid than a few seconds ago. 

Odo nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard the door chime. 

Quark heard the footsteps far before they reached the security office though, and had no shame in him whatsoever.  
"Oh! Major Kira. Wonderful to see you."


	2. Chapter 2

"Odo. I hope this isn't a bad time?" 

"Nerys!" Odo croaked, forcing himself back into a stable physical form. "Not at all." 

Quark straightened his coat as he listened in on their conversation. "Business or pleasure?" 

Kira wrinkled her nose at Quark, which was made easier as a bajoran. "I just wanted to see the Constable. I haven't much in the past... Month or so." 

Quark scowled his ridges at that, thinking for a second.

Odo nodded pleasantly. "It has been too long... I've missed having you over for a raktajino." 

There was a strong sense of anxiety about them. Quark couldn't decipher exactly what it was or what caused it. Maybe because they were no longer together? Surely they were both more mature than that, Quark thought. He couldn't imagine that getting in the way of their friendship. Unless...

Kira started to grab a chair across from Odo's desk, but she hesitated instead of sitting down. "Yeah... Me too. I've just been so busy, you know? There's no rest for the representative of Bajor." 

Odo grunted. He tried to maintain eye contact, but he couldn't. This wasn't all that unusual for him, but he certainly seemed to have been getting better at it while the two of them were together. "I see... Well." 

What was it that was making him so uncomfortable, anyways? 

"We... Could pay Vic's a visit again, tonight, if you'd like." 

"Uh-" Kira was alarmed by his suggestion, somehow. "I-I had plans to visit a holosuite with Jadzia. Could we go tomorrow?" 

She had been spending a lot of time with Jadzia lately, more than her duties used to allow. Perhaps they were assigned to the same posts in ops? That doesn't exactly explain for the holosuite. Under normal circumstances, Kira rejected the idea of them. If she wanted shore leave, she would go to bajor. And if she wanted to go on distasteful, erotic virtual adventures, she was above them. Especially not something supplied by the likes of a Ferengi con artist.  
Unlike Odo, Quark knew exactly which holoprograms the two women rented for themselves, and that information was strictly confidential. The first time they picked one of them out, Quark had made an offhand comment,  
"Suit yourselves, medieval Earth was hardly a very sensual fantasy." 

In return, Kira glared quantum torpedoes through him, and stated very bluntly:

"If you ever make another insinuation about what the two of us do in private, you'll end up in the infirmary."   
He knew the newfound nature of their relationship through Jadzia, and their scheme, which worked out well so far, he might add. His close friend and confidant who was normally very open about such things currently shared an uncharacteristically small amount of juicy details in regards to her love life. 

Quark's eyes widened when he realized what was missing. 

"Yes, Vic's sounds... Nice," Odo answered, in the security office again.  
Kira's communicator blipped. "Sisko to Kira." "I... Have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, Odo." 

The two of them both felt a sense of relief as she walked away from him. The two men could see her posture relax from behind. She must have been holding her breath the whole time. 

When the door closed after her, Quark turned to Odo. 

"Odo, you sly shapeshifter, I didn't think you had it in you." 

"What are you talking about?"

"You didn't tell her, did you?" 

Odo turned back to his workstation. 

Quark wasn't dropping the subject that easily. He leaned over the edge of Odo's desk in much the same way that the latter used his bar to appear more intimidating. "You'd commit adultery? For me? Odo, I'm flattered." 

"Quark." He warned. 

"This is rich. You're every bit as sinister as me." 

"It isn't like that, and you know it." 

"Oh, I think it is. And it's my fault, which makes it even better."

"Better? I'm -- It's disgusting. She trusted me, Quark." 

Quark considered, for a second, to explain that Kira was perfectly happy, and that she couldn't have possibly felt betrayed by Odo unless she was massively hypocritical, which she wasn't. He decided against spilling the truth. They were his customers, he'd lose his credibility, and most importantly, she'd probably kill him. Maybe not literally, but still.

"I'm just saying to relax! Infidelity is one of my favorite crimes."

Odo scoffed. "That would be your favorite, wouldn't it. Next to what, smuggling of illegal goods, larceny, and arson? You suffer from a complete disregard for morality."   
"And you love me for it." 

"Enough to have an affair with you."

Quark shivered at the sound of the word. Hearing Odo call it that was tantalizing, even if he was being intentionally cynical. He made a small noise at the thought, which Odo pretended didn't drive him crazy. "You make it sound so dirty. So dishonest... Almost Ferengi." 

"What was I supposed to tell her? That I left her for you, of all people?" 

Quark's impish sneer was replaced by one of malice.  
"I get it now. You're ashamed of me."

Odo was ashamed. But not of Quark, and even if he did call him disgusting, he meant one of his nefarious schemes, or his pointless indulgences, but never him, not really. 

"That's not what I meant."

He couldn't admit to the rest of the quadrant that he was in love with his worst enemy. He couldn't admit it to the station, or Kira. In fact, he only very recently admitted it to himself.

"Why is it so ridiculous to be in love with me? Because she's a beautiful woman, and I'm a hideous troll --" he spat the descriptor of himself as if he'd been referred to that way a few too many times in the past, "-- too far from hu-mon to be taken seriously?" Quark hissed. "Which one is it, Odo? What is it that makes me so sickening?"   
Odo was beginning to regret some of the times they threw insults at each other. It was a game for them both, for the past ten years. 

"That's enough, Quark." 

Realistically, he knew that Quark didn't take it to heart, coming from him. Their bickering was coated with so many layers of sarcasm that every "I hate you" was a declaration of love in its own right, and every cynical compliment could be taken as genuine if they thought about it for too long. They were too much alike; a type of person too strange, too alien to be understood by the ordinary citizens of the Federation; even by the standards of their own people, they would always be outcasts. 

Quark turned on his heel to storm out of the office, an endeavor halted by Odo grabbing his wrist, but not too tightly. He could have broken free of his grip if he wanted to.

"Let go of me."

"You're being ridiculous." 

"Then you aren't listening to me." 

Odo let go, and was surprised when Quark stayed, although he didn't turn around to look at him again. It was odd, without a fully formed face, that he had a solemn, pained expression. He spoke a touch gentler, less harshly than Quark was used to. 

"And you aren't at all repulsive. Just incredibly frustrating." 


	3. Chapter 3

It was nearing the end of the night when Kira and Dax made their way through Quark's bar. He gave them a conniving grin at their arrival.

"Ladies, it's wonderful to see you again for, what is this, the third time this week? Don't tell anyone, but you're becoming my favorite customers." 

Kira rolled her eyes and gave him a sideways glance. "Thank you, Quark. Truly." 

Jadzia had a similar reaction, although a little more endearingly. It was all in good fun between them.

Quark sneered at Dax knowingly for only an instant. He had to be proud of her for the antics she was up to as of late. "What will it be? The cool sunsets on the deserts of Vulcan? Paris, Earth? Perhaps the steamy Trill bathhouses, again?" 

"We were thinking something a little different this time. Do you still have the one on fantasy medieval earth?" 

"Do I ever. Shouldn't you two get changed first? Twenty-fourth century uniforms aren't exactly period appropriate attire." 

Kira slung the messenger bag she carried over one of her shoulders. "Way ahead of you." She didn't feel the need to give Quark an explanation, but Jadzia's research had her working late, so they decided they didn't have time to prepare in advance, or they'd be late to their scheduled holosuite time, and Quark made them pay for every minute it was unavailable. With an exclusive ten percent discount for his Tongo buddy Dax, of course.  
He asked no further questions, and handed Kira the amber-colored data rod. They went on their way up the spiraling staircase, Jadzia slightly behind Kira, holding her palm against the other woman's shoulder blade to keep her balance. The Major delicately slid the crystal into a cylindrical port in the control panel, opened the door for Jadzia, then stepped inside. 

...

Once in the holosuite, the environment took a short moment to render, objects in the distance fading into view after the ones closest to them. They found themselves in a rather large, elegant parlor, elaborately decorated like an Earth fairy tale. Silk curtains draped around the arched windows which took up most of the south wall, natural light shining across the furniture. These included a chaise lounge, a round tea table which supported a vase of white lilies, and two identical suits of armor that had been hammered by a skilled blacksmith and polished to things of beauty.

Jaszia let herself fall back onto the sofa in a manner that their program's setting would undoubtedly deem "unladylike," spreading her legs to take up the space of three people, immediately making herself comfortable after a long day of tests and research. "That's better." She kicked her Starfleet boots off with a bit more vigor than necessary, because one flung back over her head and when it landed she heard something shatter. Kira laughed at her, then sat down beside her. 

"I still can't believe I'm enjoying these."

Jadzia leaned against her, sighing contently. "They're more fun with good company." 

"Then I'm the luckiest in the quadrant." Kira murmered, running her fingers through Jadzia's dark hair, undoing her ponytail for her and letting it down. They stayed like this for a time, but not so long that Dax would fall asleep.

"We should change, for the adventure." 

Kira grasped the heavy satchel she brought with her.   
"I brought our dresses, but I forgot our hats this time." They weren't Kira's style in the slightest, but Jadzia requested them specifically, no matter how ridiculous, and she did end up having fun when they came to this program before. Jadzia moved to face her, a slightly awkward position as they were beside each other - so she lifted one of her legs to sit halfway on the Major's lap. Kira felt her face get hot, and even moreso when her Lieutenant spoke. 

"May I?" She asked, placing her hands at the collar of Kira's Bajoran militia uniform, who both nodded and answered "yes," more eagerly than she intended. Jadzia pulled the locking fabric apart where the seam ran down the front as an opening. Kira gasped involuntarily, then she laughed a little breathlessly at herself. 

"You know," Jadzia started, taking her sweet time to carefully undress her, "There are holograms who were made to do this," she was obviously messing with her. 

"Yeah," Kira stared up at her with round, wide eyes, taking longer than usual to process Dax's words in her flustered state. "But this is nicer..." She trailed her hands around Jadzia's waist, over the small of her back, then up to her collar. She recently learned how to take off a Starfleet officer's uniform. She recalled how it felt silly the first time, since it's a single piece, she couldn't figure it out, and the two women broke into laughter - that was a couple of weeks ago. This time, she remembered, and helped Jadzia's suit come undone, sliding it down her shoulders and forearms as she did the same to her, until they were both exposed. 

Jadzia stood before Kira so she could help her into her emerald green costume gown, then turned around so she could lace up the back. Somehow, being dressed as a princess was every bit as intimate as being freed of her Starfleet uniform. Kira took her time tying the laces into a bow at her shoulderblades. She looked lovely. 

"I still don't see the point of all these layers, they're so impractical," Kira mumbled, fixing the loops to an even length, "but it suits you." 

"Because it's fun, Kira."

"Fun is the historically accurate reasoning, I presume?" 

"Totally." 

"It looks great on you, it does," Kira reassured, "I just wish I had something less delicate for myself." 

"What do you have in mind?" 

Kira looked up at the ceiling, trying to think, and got an idea when she caught a glimpse of shimmer on the polished steel armor.

...

It was heavier than she prepared for, but after a short while she got used to it, that or the holosuite adjusted its simulated weight perameters to fit her tolerance level. Kira donned the shining armor of a holy knight, apparently an Earth paladin of God, which she did not entirely comprehend, however her limited knowledge likened it to a warrior under servitude of the prophets. This is more like it, she thought. Much easier to get "in character", as Miles or Julian would have put it, than a beautiful damsel in distress. Not that Jadzia was anything of a damsel, much less distressed - but she thought it was an exciting role to play, if only outdated by about five hundred years. More than anything, she thought it was funny, acting as an innocent maiden when she was about as liberated as they came. 

Kira could hardly see out of the grated visor on her helmet, so she relied on following Jadzia's shadow. "How did they ride their... Their horrible hooved creatures when they couldn't see anything?' 

"Those are called horses," 

"And you're positive they're herbivorous?" 

Jadzia stifled a laugh. "I promise." 

And after a short trip through the village markets, they found a horse; a large, white beast which was both muscular and quite beautiful. She was strong enough to hold the two women on her back with ease, Kira taking the reigns, and Jadzia holding on by wrapping her arms around the waist of her brave knight in shining armor. Their loyal hologram whinnied, and galloped towards their destination: a great, towering castle off in the horizon. Dark billows of smog seemed to emanate from its spires, casting a shadow on the surrounding hills. This was the quest of their program today. 

"We defeat the dragon who threatens the kingdom of Ban'zelar," Jadzia repeated, in case she or Kira had forgotten, or just to get herself in the mood for battle. 

"A dragon?" Kira asked, unsure what that meant. There was no direct translation into Bajoran, as it was an Earthly legend. Jadzia was more familiar with such things, as she studied both human history and Earth biology during her time at Starfleet academy.

"A colossal reptile, a cold blooded monster with bony wings and breath of fire. They possess a mystifying intelligence, but they make up for it with an utter lack compassion for lower forms of life. Controlled by instinct to hunt and kill, they'll stop at nothing until they rule the kingdom, burning down everything in their wake... Unless we behead them." 

Kira tenses at her story. Reptilian monsters with a horrifying bloodlust? Entire cities reduced to ashes? This may have been a dreamlike fairytale to humans, but to her, it was far too familiar. May the Prophets guide her, she would soon have the scaly behemoth's head on her blade. 

The two women made their way on horseback down the twists and turns of the winding path, and up to the stone gates of the castle. Upon sensing the wretched hint of dread and fear in the air, their steed stopped in her tracks, digging her hooves into the dry, dead dirt. She refused to go any further than this. 

"Poor girl..." Jadzia dismounted first from where she rode side-saddle, landing gracefully in a way that caused her dress to catch the air and spread out like a flower. She reached out a hand and stroked the creature's snout. "We'll come back for you." 

Side by side, they approached the castle gates. Kira carried a broadsword on her back, while Jadzia equipped an ornately carved bow and a quiver of arrows. The iron double doors were massive, with white moss growing over its ridges that suggested it had been undisturbed for nearly a century. No one in town dared to enter, but they knew the thick cloud of sickly smog overhead meant only one thing - the beast was awakening. Together the two of them strained to push the doors open, using all of their combined strength. It must have weighed nearly a ton. After slowly managing it to budge, the great door swung the rest of the way open, carried by its own momentum. The action caused a chilling creaking sound, followed by a thunderous knock when it hit the stone walls inside. Cautiously, one step at a time, the radiant knight and her joyous Trill princess entered the dragon's lair.

At first, they saw nothing. The walls made of stone slabs seemed to tower endlessly into the darkness above. The entrance led into an incredibly spacious, round chamber; perhaps what used to be a ballroom? Stained glass windows from every direction lit the area with a dim, golden light. All was deathly quiet, until an inexplicable slam of the two-ton double doors shutting behind them. Kira felt cold beads of sweat roll from her brow, and she wasn't sure if it was due to the metal armor, or if she was far more afraid than she'd like to believe. 

"Nerys, I don't think we're alone." 

"I hear you. That wasn't just the wind out there." 

"No... I mean it." Dax pointed at the ceiling, and for a moment, Kira didn't want to look up. Fifty feet above their heads, nestled along the cracked stone all the way along the chamber walls, slept their gargantuan reptile. Its leathery scales were gray-green in color, that of fungus and dust and rot - and along its jowels and eyes it possessed dozens of rows of wiry black whiskers. Its chest rose and fell silently, and with every exhale it let out a noxious bellow of smoke. The embodiment of evil must take similar forms, Kira thought, her mind racing, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She hated even to look at it, as if it were a culmination of her fear itself. The beast stirred, and lazily, its eyes opened to stare through her soul. She was paralyzed. 

"Major, look out!" Jadzia cried, enough to wake Kira from her trance, and gain the full attention of the monster. Its long neck snaked down towards her, each of its joints snapping and cracking as they haven't been moved in a hundred years. It opened its jaws, a flashing light growing from deep within the creature's gullet, with Jadzia directly in its line of sight. 

Kira's feet no longer felt heavy, or her heart frozen by peril. She pulled her broadsword out of its sheath, metal grating against leather, and held it firmly in both hands. She charged towards the dragon and swung back, then forward - slamming her blade into the side of its ridged throat, catching between two tough, armored scales. The dragon let out a pained shriek, and green blood poured from its wound. It darted its yellow eyes to Kira once more, and lifted a clawed hand, which it used to bat her away like a pitiful child's toy. Kira felt the steel on her back hit the solid stone. Surely it can't really injure me, it's only a program, she tried to remind herself, but wasn't all that convinced. Then she noticed the walls started to shake, and tiny pebbles rained from above.

Jadzia fired three arrows in quick succession after the dragon, all hitting their target, but none seeming to even phase it. She ran to help Kira to her feet, grabbed her hand, and they both sprinted for the exit, but the dragon was gaining on them. Once they reached the doors, they came to a halt, Kira's metal boots scraping against the floor. Then they found a new problem. 

"It- it only opens from the outside," Kira panted, catching her breath the best she could. Jadzia tried to push it open, and could already tell she was right. There were no handles to hold onto, and the stone archway prevented it from being pushed. They both looked over their shoulder in terror at the dragon. It clawed its way nearer, continually hissing and sputtering. The sounds of crumbling rocks worsened above. 

Kira shut her eyes, held Jadzia closely, and braced herself for the worst. 

She felt the ground quake beneath her, and a cloud of dust and debris clatter against her armor, then much, much stronger - an avalanche of stone collapsing in the dragon's chamber. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the castle was in ruins around them - rubble piled on top of the monster, entombing it, its piercing yellow eyes now only glared lifelessly at nothing at all. 

"It looks like our monster was the only thing supporting the tower," Jadzia exclaimed. "He'd been there for so long, that once he moved, the whole place fell apart." 

"Wow..." Even still, Kira held onto her. "Then I guess we won." 

Jadzia smiled, her eyes twinkled so brilliantly that it felt like gazing into an Orb. She threw the visor on Kira's helmet back, and kissed her. She felt so wonderful, she didn't want it to end, and then it stopped. After a moment, Kira pulled away, and breathed against her lips. Something hung over her conscience, something she felt from that morning. "I-I should really tell Odo about us. This isn't right... He asked me to Vic's tomorrow. He doesn't know."

Dax stepped back, and glanced from side to side, as if she knew something Kira didn't. "You should, I mean, I thought-- I'm sorry. Computer," 

"No, wait," Kira interrupted, "I think we still have time to celebrate... We did rent the holosuite for another hour." 

Dax took a second, like she was assessing something, then a wise smirk formed on her lips. "I'll make it worth your while."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kiradax chapter hell yeah. Hell yeah. realized while writing that this is very much inspired by dungeons and dragons which I wish I could play more of sometime soon


	4. Chapter 4

Kira Nerys awoke the next morning, feeling well rested for once. She frequently had nightmares of the occupation, the atrocities committed by Cardassia, and her own endeavors during the resistance. Some were undisputably heroic, while others were nothing to be proud of. Over time, she could tell she was healing, although she knew it would always be a part of who she was. Nerys sat up, rolled her head to both shoulders, cracking the tension out of her bones, stretched her arms over her head, and prepared to start her day. 

"Computer, Raktajino."

Kira was not a morning person. She thought for a second about replicating her breakfast as well, and then considered how something fresh sounded more appetizing. Maybe she would visit the promenade. There were plenty of restaurants there, many of which she was always decidedly too busy to give a chance. Today would be different.

That is, it would have been different, until she ran into Quark at the turbolift, who she crowned the last person on the station anyone would want to be stuck in a small room with. At least their descent would only last about twenty-seven seconds.

"Why, Major, you're up early. What's the occasion?" 

"I get up the same time every day, Quark." 

Quark hissed and fidgeted with his hands.   
"I swear, you can't be friendly to anyone on this space station. I should've opened a bar in the Gamma quadrant. Maybe then I'd be treated with the respect I deserve-" 

Kira took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Twelve more seconds of this.

Twelve seconds came and went. 

The mechanical whir of the turbolift slowly pitched down. She could feel the slight shift in gravity as the hull come to a stop beneath her feet, and... The doors didn't open.

Quark entered something on the control panel beside him, but it was unresponsive. He grimaced, tried it a second time, with no results.

"Quark. What did you do?" 

"The whole system's jammed -- it looks like a power surge," Quark groaned, "I have to meet a client in five minutes! Do you know how angry Klingons get when they have to wait for their merchandise? He's going to kill me-" 

Kira did her best to ignore him, and hit her communicator badge. "Kira to ops." 

"Go ahead, Major," Miles O'Brien answered on the other end. He sounded slightly worried, which anyone would if they were used to the Chief Engineer's level of catastrophe during their day to day life. 

"I'm stuck in a faulty turbolift, with Quark. Somewhere above the promenade, you should have my coordinates. What's going on up there, Chief?" 

There was a pause over the channel.

"I-I don't know, sir. I'm trying to activate manual controls, but either it's completely offline, or there's too much interference." 

"Can't you transport us out of here?" Quark chimed in, loudly enough to be heard in ops.

"I'm afraid not. Your signals are scrambled, so it'd be dangerous to lock onto your vitals. I don't mess with transporter malfunctions." 

Kira sighed defeatedly. "Then what can we do?" 

"Er, while I can't safely get you out of there, I could transport over some tools and talk you through the repairs. It should be as simple as recalibrating the lift's vertical relays. You're halfway between levels, or I'd have a team take care of it from the outside. Luckily the safeties kicked in so you didn't take a real nasty fall." 

...

Jadzia worked away in the science lab. On one of the tables, a small purple light was contained in a stasis field - the same kind of apparation that invaded Deep Space Nine the month before, but this one was much smaller. Another one appeared outside the wormhole, and stowed away on a freighter ship that docked at the station a few days ago. Jadzia had made a great deal of progress in her research with the newly discovered specimen. Because he was not only present at the previous contact with these beings, but also had personal experience as an unknown alien, Dax called Odo to meet her at the lab. 

"Constable, take a look at this." 

"I'd heard you found another one," Odo frowned, leaning down to get a better look at it, tilting his head quizzically. "You do plan on releasing it, don't you?" Dax could tell from his facial expression, or lack of one, that he had a certain empathy for little beings in jars. 

"That's what I called you down here for, we think we've located its natural habitat. We received intel that supposedly, there's a colony of these little guys just located in an asteroid belt on the other side of the wormhole. I have a runabout prepared to leave, and you know it's dangerous to go into Dominion space... But I was wondering if you would join me?" 

"Ah! That shouldn't be a problem. I can imagine it would be safer to have me along. The Jem'Hadar would be less likely to attack with me on board." 

"Precisely, but hopefully we won't run into them in the first place. Jem'Hadar or not, frankly I think you're the man for the job. Interacting with nonverbal sentient beings is a highly sensitive matter... You understand." 

Odo lifted up the stasis jar, and smiled at the small purple sphere. "It's sort of cute," he said, in a quiet grumble. Cute was not a word she'd ever heard him use before, and it made her giggle. He gave her a cranky glance as if to say he doesn't make jokes. She did her best to regain her composure. 

"So!" Jadzia continued, leading the way to the turbolift, gesturing for him to follow. "I actually learned a lot about this cute little fella. I can tell you all about it on the trip to the Gamma quadrant." 

...

Meanwhile, Kira and Quark were still attempting to make repairs on the turbolift shaft. Or rather, Kira was, as she did not trust him enough to let him work on the metal chamber that could potentially drop them both to their deaths. Sure, there were dozens of safety precautions set in place, but she wouldn't put it past Quark to disable them, intentionally or otherwise. Every couple of minutes Kira ould ask him to hand her a tool of some sort.

"Why couldn't the Cardassians have designed their slave labor space stations with a staircase? Stairs don't break down every three days."

"You aren't fixing it any faster by complaining about it." 

"Major, I get the strangest feeling that you don't like me." 

"Because you're a horrible little man built on greed and glued together with malice?" 

"For a subjugated people, you aren't exactly understanding of my culture's values. So much for tolerant Bajor." 

"Quark, I don't want to hear it. Hand me the coil spanner." 

"Maybe that's why Odo likes you," Quark did give her the coil spanner, but he didn't quit speaking, which was the more important part of her request, "you've both decided your purpose in life is to torment me." 

Kira's hand slipped as she was trying to fix the electronics in the panel. She was quickly losing her patience.   
"What does Odo have to do with this?" 

"Everything!" Quark snapped at her. "How would you like it if I decided to take away something important to you, like... One of your orbs. Suppose I don't even treat it like a gift from the gods, as you would, it's just a commodity to me, but that doesn't matter because you. Can't. Have. It." While he was being intentionally vague, Kira knew exactly what he meant, although it didn't entirely make sense.

"You can't own people, Quark. That's an incredibly selfish way of looking at things."

"I know that!" Quark pushed Kira, trying to snatch the coil spanner back and take matters into his own hands, but she was both bigger and stronger than he was, and shoved him away with ease as he clawed at her. 

Kira looked at Quark the way humans look at dead rats. "What do you care if Odo spends time with me?"

"Because you don't want him," he hissed.

"Stop taking out your fruit feelings on me you slutty little menace " 

...

On the runabout, Dax manned the piloting controls, and Odo was on secondary navigation. He kept the specimen jar near his control panel. 

"- As I was saying, during my research, I found out we were right in that it feeds off of energy, and has the ability to manipulate electrons in our computers, but we were wrong about it eating electricity. We already suspected that these beings possess some kind of telepathic ability, but if my theory is correct, they consume humanoid emotions... Odo, are you listening to me?" 

"Hmm," Odo grunted. "Oh, that's interesting." 

"Not a word of it, huh."

"Apologies, Lieutenant, I've just been... Somewhat preoccupied with my thoughts." 

"I'll say. You've barely said a word since we left the station. What's on your mind?" 

"It's personal," Odo stiffened. "But, well..."

"Odo, you're my friend. It won't bother me." 

"May I ask you a personal question? As a... Friend, so to speak." 

Jadzia nodded.

"How did you... Well, when your former wife visited the station-" Odo sighed, in what sounded like frustration. "How did you know you loved her?" 

What an odd question. 

"Because she was my wife? I always loved her." 

"But how did you know, really?" Odo tried to reiterate, however still vague and unclear. "As a woman." 

"I see..." Jadzia pursed her lips. "It's been so long ago, I can't remember when I pieced everything together. I've fallen in love with probably a hundred different people in my lifetimes. Men, women, or otherwise.

It's a part of what makes me who I am, not only Dax, but Jadzia, too. 

You know, back in his prime, Curzon would go for just about any sentient lifeform with arms and legs, and he-" 

"I know," Odo grunted uncomfortably, "If you recall, I was Curzon for a few days. I remember vividly... The thoughts he subjected me to."

"Ohh." 

"The man has no taste. I mean. Quark? Couldn't he have picked somebody else? Like --" Odo tried to think of someone respectable on the station. Not Julian, Benjamin was his commanding officer, Miles was married, and Garak was a war criminal. He couldn't think of anyone. "-- Anyone other than Quark?" 

Jadzia raised her eyebrows at him. 

"-- Not that there's anything... Wrong, with Quark, except for his personality, and the plotting and scheming." 

"Uh-huh." 

"But Curzon took my memories, and, based off of those, he came to some highly inappropriate conclusions." 

"With all due respect, Constable... You seemed happier that way." 

Odo rested his elbows on the console and put his head in his hands. He decided to change the subject.   
"Dax, I have a problem," Odo started to melt through his own fingers. "Ever since I can remember, I've been trying to be humanoid, something that just isn't in my nature. I found my people, that should have answered all my questions about what I am. But it didn't." 

"You know... Ultimately it did take me seven lifetimes to figure everything out. You aren't doing so bad." 

"The Major and I... I love her dearly. It's just that she's more of a sister to me."

Jadzia made a face. "Eww! I mean, didn't you-" 

"No! No... Well, almost, but neither of us wanted to. It was wrong."

"I think you and Kira have more in common than you realize. I mean, she doesn't even like Captain Boday,"

"The man with the transparent skull?" Odo finished for her. "See, I never understood that one either. He has an air of superiority about him. His first officer would make far better company." 

Jadzia appeared genuinely surprised. "Really? The gorn? Damn..." Does Odo only like scary looking men? Good for him. 

Odo scoffed and crossed his arms. "Save me your ridicule. He's well dressed, that's what matters." 

"No, no, no, it's just interesting, that's all," Dax tried again not to laugh, then backtracked to what her original point was. "Do me a favor? Tell Kira about this. Please." 

"I don't think you fully understand. It goes against every ounce of my better judgement." Odo's form melted at her words. Before she had time to respond, something showed up on their viewfinder: asteroids.

"We're here."   
...

In the turbolift again. The control panel had been removed from the wall of the lift, giving way to a opening to view the wiring and electronics; it was roughly twenty inches around. Quark held his upper body inside of it, working away in the cramped space. His legs dangled out of the hole, not quite touching the floor as he was slightly too short. 

"I'm starting to understand what Garak means about his claustrophobia," he griped, quickly jerking his hand away when one of the circuits gave off a jolt of electricity. 

"Please just realign the power directory." 

"Was that a please? What's next, a thank you, even? Quark, I'm so glad we could put aside our differences, and help each other out of this mess?" He kicked his feet, the toes of his shoes clanked against the metal. 

"Don't push your luck, Quark." 

"It's like Dabo. I'm bound to win eventually." 

"Then you should know better than anyone else the odds aren't rigged in your favor." 

Quark couldn't see the cynical smile on Kira's lips, but his large ears detected the hint of humor in her voice. He reached a hand back behind him, his palm open, and she handed him a tool he didn't quite remember the name of. The Chief called it a flux recoupler, or something. He just knew he had to connect the green wires to the empty ports, because of highly technical jargon which he immediately purged from his brain. He had to make room for more important thoughts, like interplanetary stock markets, and how many centuries Klingon bloodwine could sit on a shelf before it'd kill you. After a minute in silence, he found himself growing bored of his repetitive task. He had no idea how Rom could stand being an engineer. At least while working at the bar he'd always have someone to make conversation with. 

"...I ah, hope you enjoy your dinner tonight. At Vic's, with Odo." 

"Dinner? I'm still waiting on breakfast. I was on my way to buy some when the turbolift died on us." 

"Once we get out of here, I can offer you some refreshments, on the house, if you want." 

"You know what? I'll take you up on that."

Suppose they could become a team, assuming they had no alternative to turn to. The Major wasn't always so bad.

...

The limited view of the asteroid field through both doors of the airlock was still incredibly striking. Gray stones pitted with tiny craters followed the path of their orbital belt in unison. The craters, Jadzia recalled from her astrophysics lessons as an unjoined Trill, were caused by the impact of smaller objects, resulting in the surface spreading out, something similar to the initial splash when an object drops into a body of water. The asteroids moved together slowly in the blackness of space, resembling a school of fish. Most interestingly though, the surface of these asteroids flickered with eerie purple lights on occasion. Odo clicked the control panel to open the inner door of the airlock, then placed the stasis jar containing their specimen inside the chamber. He took a quick glance outside at the view before returning to Jadzia. 

"Do you think it knows that we're trying to help it? I hope it isn't frightened... I know I would be." 

"Given these entities' telepathic and empathetic nature, I would say it does know. I conducted an experiment back on the station - nothing harmful, I promise," she clarified, knowing this was a sensitive topic for Odo, "where I subjected our specimen to varying audio stimulants. It responded positively to Klingon opera. Specifically, a love ballad. Pretty incredible, right? It fed off of the emotional energy. The electrons my brain emitted while listening to it, while posing no direct danger to me. The only problem with these little guys, is they're made up of pure energy, so they damage electronics just by being near them. We're calling them Empivores, after both their voracious appetite for electromagnetic pulses, and empathetic properties. How cool is that?" 

Odo didn't take his eyes off the little alien for a moment. He seemed to be deep in thought. "In a way... They helped us. They just didn't fully understand it." 

Jadzia could have sworn she heard him say goodbye to it, under his mimicry of breath. She shook her head, and smiled.   
"I guess they did." 

Odo pressed the button on the screen that opened the outer airlock, confirming a prompt by the computer that warned it detected objects in the chamber. The door let out a muffled hiss at first, which was then rendered completely silent by the vacuum of space. The same power jettisoned the Empivore's stasis jar into the asteroid belt. After a few seconds, an automatic timer deactivated the field, allowing the purple glow to float as freely as a soap bubble in the wind, before softly landing on and attaching itself to one of the asteroids. Jadzia and Odo watched it in awe as a cascade of violet light crackled between the meteors, vividly enough to illuminate their runabout from outside. 

Odo turned his head to face her.  
"Thank you, Dax... For listening to me. You'd make for a great counselor." 

Jadzia shoved him playfully, then wrapped her arm behind his shoulders in the closest to a hug she could give him without any protest. Odo had all the cuddliness of a tree, but she didn't mind.

"Yeah, maybe in another lifetime."


	5. Chapter 5

Preparing himself for his upcoming date with Kira, Odo shifted his form into the black tuxedo she always said looked good on him, and waited at Quark's bar once again. He surely hadn't planned it that way, it just so happened that his reservation was in Vic's lounge, and Vic's was a holosuite program, and Quark owned the holosuites. Odo also didn't have to wait for her anyways, as she wasn't late, he was fifteen minutes early.

Quark poured a tall drink of Andorian ale into Morn's glass, but he was paying more attention to Odo. Which is fair, he thought. The moments that Morn isn't talking his lobes off are so rare, he couldn't help it. 

"What can I --" he felt himself almost fall into his default customer service schtick, then tried to make a save and turn it around into a joke, "Oh, right. You don't want anything." 

Odo harrumphed at him. "Finally catching on, I see." 

Quark tried, and failed, to pry his eyes away from a more formal Odo. "You should really wear something flattering like that more often, Odo... Not like that depressing Bajoran uniform." 

Odo had a slightly perplexed look in his eyes, like he wasn't sure to take that as an insult or a compliment. Knowing Quark, the former was more likely, but the way he stared at him told a different story.  
"I have an obligation to wear it when I'm on duty, Quark, and I'm always on duty." 

"Take a vacation!" Quark gestured broadly with both arms, radiating that sense of charisma that he absolutely should not have. "It'd do you some good. You might even relax while you're at it." 

Odo tensed just thinking about it. "I'd prefer not to partake in any of your so-called relaxation. You'd send me out in a runabout to Pon Farr night on Vulcan." 

Quark stroked one of his lobes in thought, which only served to make Odo even more uncomfortable, as he knew their secondary function. "Not everything I say has obscene double-meaning. Pon Farr night on Vulcan woule solve a lot of your problems, if you ask me." 

Odo glared at him, leaned further over the counter, and grabbed the lapels on Quark's jacket. "I know what exactly would solve most if not all of my problems," he threatened. 

Quark inhaled sharply, as if being pulled forward by the front of his coat hurt him somehow. "Relieving some of the tension you've been holding onto for years?" 

Odo loomed closer still. "Putting you in jail." 

Quark thought hard about what the repurcussions would be if he kissed him just then. Customers were watching, people would know, and still a part of him liked that idea. He tried his hardest to lead his mind elsewhere, which only led him to someplace worse.  
"That's not the only thing you want to do to me though, is it, Odo?"

Odo scoffed and released him immediately. His face melted slightly in his embarrassment, drips of ooze forming where his cheekbones would be. His eyes darted around the bar to see if anyone had been watching them, but no one was.  
"I have no idea what you're talking about." 

Quark had the audacity to blow him a kiss before he went back to his work, just before Kira walked through the door. The bartender watched as Odo left. He saw her kiss him on the cheek as they made their way up the winding staircase. 

...

The indistinct sounds of holograms speaking to one another filled the air at Vic's. Vic Fontaine, the hologram singer, stood on stage, singing a smooth rendition of "Beyond the Sea" by Bobby Darin, a human song from the 1960s. The lounge itself was period accurate to mid twentieth century Americana, from the diners' clothes, to the round tables with spotless white tablecloths, and even the food. Odo had no need or desire to try it, but he had heard the spaghetti was pleasant, if not quite spicy enough, according to Bashir and O'Brien.

Kira wore a solid red jumpsuit, almost similar to her militia uniform, albeit much more comfortable, while still being formal enough for a classy night on the town - or holosuite. 

"Nerys, you look stunning," Odo told her, and he meant it.

She beamed a smile up at him, her Bajoran earring catching a sparkle from the stage lights.  
"So do you." 

Kira linked arms with him and led them both to a table near the front, the same one they always went to. By the time they were seated, however, Odo looked restless. 

"Before I forget, I have a confession to make." He always sounded overtly serious, but especially now. "If you don't mind."

"Oh... Of course. I uh, there's something I have to tell you as well." 

Odo jumped at the opportunity to get out of it  
"After you. Mine can wait." 

"No... You go first." 

Odo couldn't help but sigh in relief when the holographic waitress asked for their refreshment of choice. Kira asked for a drink to start, synthale that very closely resembled a martini, and Odo of course didn't order anything. Once the hologram left, he started back up again.

"You're an incredible friend, Nerys, you've cared for me, helped me grow more faithful in the world, and myself..." Odo grew increasingly nervous as he went on, once again feeling a drip of his face revert to ooze. "With every part of me being so far from man, a crude attempt to mimic what I should be... I hid from very real parts of myself." His sunken eyes were almost tearful. He started to hold his head in his hands, obscuring his face, but Kira reached before he could and held both of his hands over the table.

"I know what you mean, Odo." 

He shook his head and looked down at their hands, their fingers intwined together. She did have a remarkably calming effect on him. 

"With all due respect, Nerys, you aren't a changeling, and you don't."

"Won't you look at me? Please." 

He reluctantly did as she asked.

"Odo. I love you so much," her voice was heartfelt and genuine, which only worsened his guilt a hundred times over, "do you remember when you confessed your feelings for me? I was so... Awkward around you. I did everything I could to avoid you, or giving you a straight answer." 

Odo nodded silently.

"-- And then I rejected you. Multiple times. I-I never recipropated how you felt about me. Up until our first date, when Vic set us up... I'm sorry, there was a reason for that that I didn't tell you." 

"I hope I didn't pressure you into this. I should have respected your wishes in the first place." 

"No, I mean, that's not quite it either. It's just that uh. Well." She paused for a long while, searching for the right words. She wasn't entirely sure the Bajoran language could expresa what she was trying to say. "You're a man, sort of." 

"Not exactly," Odo grumbled, as if he were stating the obvious.

"Right, right, sorry. Damned universal translator. I just meant... You aren't a woman." 

Odo stared at her. He knew what she meant all too well.  
"I wish you had told me sooner, Nerys. It would've made it easier on both of us." 

"That's just it. I didn't know, until Jadzia-" 

Odo let go of her hands, let out an involuntary chuckle, which turned into a gruff fit of laughter. A rare and unnerving sight. 

Kira went red in the face. "I'm serious! What's so funny?"

Odo couldn't contain himself. "No, no, no, it's just that all this time, I'd been sneaking around with him, and you're in love with Dax," 

"Vic Fontaine?!" 

Odo slammed a fist on the table, the silverware clattering everywhere. It was a good thing that he didn't have to breathe, or he wouldn't be able to.  
"Believe me, I wish he was." 

His laughter was contagious, and it infected Kira too.  
"You and Quark? But you- you can't stand him!" 

"I know!" 

They hadn't even ordered their food yet, but they could tell it was going to be a great night. They certainly had a lot to talk about.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been hours since Odo and Kira embarked on their holosuite adventures, Quark pondered to himself, growing annoyed just thinking about it. It was nearly 03:00, when he closed up every night. This was considerably later than any other business on the promenade, considering the station's days lasted for 26 hours. Even Morn went home by now. Quark decided to interfere so that he could go home and get his beauty sleep, not that he needed it. Those two Risian lovebirds would be in there all night at this rate. 

The door to the holosuite opened on Quark's end, and the door to the old-timey lounge opened in Vic's. No one paid him any attention as he strode through the crowd, stopping before the happy couple, who were too deep in their conversation for Quark to piece together what they had been talking about. He flashed them both a sharp toothy grin.  
"Alright. Either you can start paying my electricity bill, or I'm cutting this little romantic outing short.

Surprisingly, Odo actually looked happy to see him. Definitely not a good sign.

"What? Surely it isn't that late," the Constable started to object.

"It's three in the morning," Quark exaggerated, but only by about fifteen minutes. "and I want to go home." 

"Sorry, Quark. We must've lost track of the time," Kira apologized. "You know how it is."

"No, I don't think I do." Quark responded with his usual sense of agitation, "Computer. End program." 

The environment deactivated around them, table and chairs included. Quark held onto Kira's shoulders so she wouldn't fall as he metaphorically pulled their seats out from under them, but Odo didn't receive the same treatment. The shapeshifter stumbled backwards and hit the floor of the currently unoperating holosuite. Quark gave him a self-satisfied smirk as he helped Kira to her feet. That's what you get, he thought.

Kira gave him a hand instead. "Great to see you, Odo." She smiled at him, then leaned in to plant a kiss on his cheek which he returned, and went on her way, knowing it was best to leave the two of them alone. But she also had someone of her own she needed to see, Lieutenant Dax. Maybe she'd finally take her up on that offer to spend the night in her quarters. 

"Major," Quark nodded a goodbye as she left. He sneered at the constable. "Go home." 

Odo started after him as Quark turned to leave as well, making his way closely behind him out of the holosuite, and down the spiraling staircase. "Quark, may I speak with you?" 

"Hmm. No," Quark spoke with his back to him, inputting some codes on his computer, checking sales for the day, then deactivating the lights. Odo followed him still.

"Quark."

"No." Quark entered his access code, locked the bar, and headed for the turbolifts.

...

By the time he got to his quarters, Quark left Odo waiting at the door. Odo had been standing there for nearly ten minutes before he pressed the chime again, only half expecting an answer. 

Quark finally opened the door, and leaned against the frame, trying his best to glare at Odo. He had changed out of his work clothes and into his onesie pajamas, and in one hand, he held a Ferengi tooth sharpener that he used before bed. He continued grinding away with his small device. "What do you want?" 

Odo folded his arms. "I wanted to speak to you, that's all." He spoke far more softly than Quark was comfortable hearing. 

Quark reached for the button to shut the door again, but Odo stopped it with his arm. 

"Why not tell Kira about it?" Quark was beginning to give up on getting him to leave. He left the door open, and walked back inside. Odo followed him. He noticed that there were no signs of anyone else being home at the moment. Rom must have been working the night shift again.

Quark sat down on the sofa towards the middle of the chamber. He set his sharpener down on the table in front of it, and picked up a small bottle of blue liquid. 

Odo sat down beside him, which made it increasingly more difficult for Quark to disregard him. "I did have a conversation with Nerys, or I wouldn't be here right now." 

Quark looked up at him, only for a second, then looked back at his bottle. He shook it and unscrewed the lid, it had a tiny brush on the inside of the lid. He dipped it into the bottle, and applied blue paint to his nails.   
"Last I checked, you didn't want to be seen with me."

Odo's eyes saddened when Quark told him that.   
"That's what this is about?" 

"I mean, I understand, you want to be respected, if anyone saw us, they'd regard us as the biggest joke on this side of the wormhole, I'm a Ferengi criminal, and you're the chief of security," Quark rambled, and his hands began to tremble. It was harder to paint while he was shaking. "They'd treat you as an alien again." 

"Don't worry about that," Odo sighed. He went to hold his hand around Quark's, keeping it steady, and taking the little brush between two of his fingers. "Let me try." 

Quark pursed his lips the way he did to cover his jagged teeth. He let Odo take his hands and layer blue polish onto his nails. For a moment, they sat there in silence while Odo pampered him. He was instinctively suspicious of Odo treating him with such gentleness. Not that he thought Odo was incapable of it. More to the fact that it was towards him. Odo had never been an affectionate person until he grew closer with the Major, and though Quark often thought he saw glimpses of his protective, even caring nature, it was always subtle enough that he could file it away as his own wishful thinking, Odo being willfully obtuse, or a mistake. 

"You know;" Odo broke the silence then, "I always thought the blue to be natural for Ferengi." He had far steadier hands than Quark did, even on a good day, so when he delicately colored Quark's fingernails he did a better job than Quark expected; who could feel his face becoming a flushed burnt orange, all the way up his large ears, and he tried unsuccessfully go ignore the tingling sensation growing in them.

"I guess there are still some things you don't know about me, Constable." 

Odo grunted in response. "Inconceivable." He had taken great pride in monitoring Quark's every move from the sidelines, often times only observing miniscule details which would have meant nothing to anybody else. But to Odo, for reasons he had yet to confide in anyone, those details were deeply important to him.

Quark couldn't control his feeling a warm fondness wash over him. The things that Odo didn't say, that he left implied and up to his imagination, meant the most to him.   
"I think you've been too distracted to properly spy on me. Spending too much time with your oldest friend, the Major." 

"Quark. Do you recall the day I was first stationed on Terok Nor?" 

Quark nodded, although he couldn't find the strength to meet his eyes. "Truly the last day I felt at peace," he jabbed, although not especially convincingly so. 

"Ah, yes..." The corners of Odo's mouth alluded that something was amusing to him. "Do you remember what you said to me?" 

"Am I being interrogated? Odo, that was ten years ago," Quark said defensively, then started to remember. "I welcomed you to my bar, and introduced myself, that's all." 

Odo shifted into Quark's vision, locking eyes with him once again. Quark wondered if he did that on purpose, just to make the sound of his heartbeat pound in his ears, while the changeling instigator didn't have a heart at all. At least not biologically. 

"No one ever..." Odo sighed, at a loss for words, "No one treated me as another person before that. A real, living being, an equal." That was something Quark already knew. The Bajoran scientists who found Odo, their unknown sample, and subjected him to their horrific experiments and torture, they were never kind to him. Needless to say the Cardassians were even worse. "A companion," he added finally, although not without some reluctance.

"That was nothing. A bartender should be friendly towards all of his potential customers. It's just good business sense." Quark said dismissively, trying to brush it off, as if Odo didn't already know he cared about him. He didn't want his emotions to be that opaque. 

"You don't know what it meant to me." 

What?

"Odo, what's gotten into you? If this is how you treat Kira, then I'm jealous." Quark tried to make it sound like a cynical jest, but it didn't come out right. It sounded genuine. Gross.

"Not anymore," Odo muttered, focused on his task, even if it was minimal, it was for Quark. "I told you I spoke with her. About a lot of things. Her heart belongs with someone else --"   
The words should have sounded sad, and yet, he endowed them with something else entirely. He was relieved, and comfortable, and sure of himself.   
"-- As does mine." 

"You told her? You- you chose me?" 

Odo smiled, a grotesque imitation of humanity that unsettled most, but it made the Ferengi's heart stop. "It was always you, Quark." 

Quark stared up at him with awestruck eyes, unable to think, or speak, or move. He might have felt tears start to bubble when Odo leaned down, tilting his head to the side. He nearly touched Quark's nose with his own, but something stopped him just before he did, as if being too close would burn him, or as if he had a deflector field around himself that protected him from enemy starships. 

"Why do you hesitate?" Quark asked him.

"I don't know," Odo admitted.

"You don't have to," Quark tried to reassure him, that alone with him like this, no one could tell him he was monstrous or alien; at the same time, Odo didn't have to masquerade as a humanoid, they could lower their decade-long facade and act without shame. Quark inched closer, and kissed him. He felt like he was home. Odo lowered Quark's back onto the seat, beneath himself, as he refused to break the kiss with his arch rival, the criminal he detested, the man he loved so deeply it hurt. In his arms, Quark no longer believed himself to be so repulsive. 

...

Quark knew that few other people had seen Odo exposed like this, even intimately, once; and yet no matter how often he would fantasize about this during the slow days at work, he was more than he ever could have imagined. Of course, his imagination was both incredibly active and scandalously bold. He thought about how Odo's alien mimicry of the humanoid form must go down farther than only his face, and he was right in that regard. He was smooth and completely devoid of any imperfections, like a porcelain statue, and just as brittle. He was too pale to be a hu-mon, and he modestly positioned his legs where Quark couldn't see between them, assuming he had shifted his body so that anything was there at all. Not that it mattered, of course, he was equally infatuated with the idea of being tenderly ravished by Odo, and one of desperately having the changeling for himself. Quark couldn't tear his eyes away. He wanted to remember every detail about Odo for his loneliest nights, if he had those anymore. 

The longer Quark stared in silence, the more Odo grew restless. He repositioned his thighs uncomfortably, which only flustered his smaller nemesis even worse.   
"Quark, if you're thinking of telling me how strange I am, you could stop beforehand." He growled, as a warning that he wouldn't tolerate any snide remarks while in this state of vulnerability.

Quark traces his eyes up to meet Odo's.   
"No! No... You look..." Not only was he genuinely breathless, he had a dopey, toothy smile.  
"You look wonderful, Odo." 

Odo let himself relax at that, then reached one arm out to him. Quark took his hand into his own, then Odo pulled him down beside him.   
"Let me see you. Please."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Quark was trying; and failing, to undo the fascener at the front of his coat. He was unbelievably bothered just to look at Odo like this, as a result, his hands were trembling. Odo helped him pull apart the clasp, then his suit jacket off of his shoulders, but he still wore three more layers of notoriously tacky clothes. 

"Are you frightened of me?" 

"Are you kidding? The worst you can manage is to annoy me. Relentlessly." His breath quickened when he took off his vest.   
"I'm just, uh," Uncharacteristically nervous to be in this situation with Odo, of all people. 

Odo gazed into him with sullen blue eyes. He nearly seemed regretful.   
"I won't let anyone hurt you, Quark. Especially not me."  
Quark knew exactly how true that was, as Odo has proven countless times, and it made his whole world soften. The Nausicans, the barfights, the time he left the station for Earth and ended up in the past, and then some - whenever something happened to Quark, Odo would be there in an instant to protect him. He had dozens of security officers and deputies at his disposal, but when it came to Quark, he had to be the one to come to his rescue. No one else could do a satisfactory job, and if something happened to him while he wasn't there, he'd... He didn't like to think about it. 

"Odo-" He rasped when he felt cool air on his skin, and the light touch of Odo's hands taking his last undershirt.   
"I'll do whatever you want, Odo," he turned his name into a long whine at the feeling of Odo's hands caressing his sensitive lobes.

A sunken smile curled its way onto Odo's hollow mouth. "Impatient, aren't we?" 

Quark groaned something unintelligible, nuzzling into Odo's touch. He kissed the shapeshifter, his constable, only making their current situation all the more compromising.   
"I've only waited ten years."   
His heavy sarcasm excited Odo, which he could never admit, or Quark would do his best to be that much more insufferable. Quark gave a weak little noise in complaint when Odo stopped toying with his lobes.

"You're a menace," Odo growled at him, although he somehow made it sound like praise to the Ferengi. Quark made a great effort to be the bane of his existence.

Odo touched him again, making Quark sigh dreamily. He felt Odo's eyes scanning him over like he was a starship that had just decloaked. Quark glanced down again, eagerly trying to figure out what Odo could do to him, but he was still as smooth as a statue; there was nothing to see. Odo quickly crossed his legs. 

"Why do you keep doing that," Odo grumbled, clearly embarrassed at being gawked at. He was unaccusstomed to having someone handle his body as if he were priceless treasure, especially considering his unusual, alien physiology.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to know, but apparently you didn't think this through." 

"Didn't think this through," Odo repeated in a grumpy, mocking voice. 

"Excuse me for thinking you would be relaxed enough to make yourself a little more anatomically correct! You know they make androids more equipped than this?" 

"It's-" Odo sighed, averting his eyes, "it's anything you want, I have no true form, I never needed to-"

Quark gave him a repulsively dirty leer. He licked his fangs, which made Odo shudder. 

"Oh no." What did he tell him that for. Quark was going to jump to scandalously crude conclusions. It was Quark. "Whatever you're about to say. Do not." 

Quark flashed Odo the fakest innocent eyes he'd seen in his life, and disabled his universal translator to say something in the Ferengi language that was far too obscene for Federation Standard. It was in that moment that Odo wished he didn't speak Ferengi, but even if he didn't, he'd know from the way he pleaded that Quark was asking something be done to him.

"That is, by far, the worst thing you've ever said to me," Odo croaked, in standard tongue. 

"Please?"

"I hate you so much." 

Try as he might, they both knew it couldn't be farther from the truth, especially when he granted his wishes.   
Odo knew too much about Quark, he thought. That Quark made himself seem smaller on purpose when it was useful to him, or whining to get whatever his envious heart desired. Odo never imagined he'd enjoy it. This was as close as he could get to linking with a humanoid, not only emotionally, but even physically this time. When he cast away his shame and doubt, he felt only his love. Love, Quark dwelled on the word, what was still mostly unsaid after all these years. It certainly wasn't in any rule of acquisition, but if he could, he would write his own. Something like, love was not only worth waiting for; it was worth its weight in latinum.


End file.
